The torment used to have boundaries. Children could shut out their bullies when they walked away from school. But not anymore.

"You can be bullied through Facebook," said Strafford School seventh-grader Brian Downer. "You can be bullied through Twitter. You can be bullied through anything online."

Many bullies are acting anonymously through apps and social websites.

"You can create this fake profile just to torment people," said Summer Barnes, founder of New Hampshire Kids Against Bullying. "It's sad people would do that, but it's what happens."

And it can have tragic consequences. In September, 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick jumped from a tower in Florida, killing herself. Investigators said she had been terrorized with hateful messages even after moving to a new school.

Her mother had checked her phone but overlooked apps such as Kik and Ask.fm. Counselors and children said Kik, an instant messenger app, lets users send messages to other users without authorization.

Ask.fm lets people ask anonymous questions that bullies can twist into insults.

"They don't have to put a picture -- they could put a picture of whatever and you wouldn't know who it is -- and they could add you without you accepting them," said Tatiana Geronimo of Blue Skies Wellness, a nonprofit aimed at stopping bullying. "They could keep sending you messages unless you block them."

Bullies who are blocked can come up with a new name and start over again.

Blue Skies Wellness provides counseling and education at schools in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It said the new take on cyberbullying is exploding.

"It's very devastating when they open up a message, and it's cruel. It's horrible," said Blue Skies founder Belen Godwin. "I have seen some, and I am shocked."

Experts said that to combat this form of bullying, parents should have an open line of communication with their children, who may be afraid to tell anyone they're being bullied.

Save emails or messages that come from a bully. Keep email addresses and notes on the apps or messengers that were used.

Try contacting the Internet or data provider. Sometimes they can help track where the abusive messages are coming from.

Also, get in touch with counselors and administrators at school. By law in New Hampshire, they are responsible for helping to combat bullying. They may even need to involve the police.

"It's a very tall task and hard to do when you are not sure where it all came about," said Nancy Mason, a guidance counselor at Strafford School.

Experts said bullying peaks in middle school. Mason works closely with the group New Hampshire Kids Against Bullying. Barnes, now a high-schooler, founded the group two years ago.

"We really need to inform people and tell them there is help out there and there is stuff we can do to try and prevent this," she said.

Students meet weekly to discuss ways to combat bullying. They said a key part is telling a parent or trusted adult, but they said they realize the newfound anonymity of cyberbullying is hard to prevent.

"You could get rid of your phone, stop texting, but it's not something you want to do because it is just such a big part of teenagers lives now," Barnes said.

The group is trying to increase awareness through videos and posters. It also helped plan a recent conference for 3,000 students as part of Anti-Bullying Week.

"We can't get to every system and make sure no one cyberbullies anyone, but we are trying to make kids aware of what's happening and it can hurt someone," Barnes said.

News 9 reached out to the companies that make Kik and Ask.fm, and Kik responded. It said it has worked to add features that allow users to block and ignore other users. It has also developed a guide for parents.